Northern Illinois beat Arkansas State 21-19 in the 10th Anniversary Camellia Bowl on Saturday, giving coach Thomas Hammock his first career bowl victory.
The tone of the game was set before it even kicked off, as both teams and head coaches exchanged some words on the way to their respective sideline. Players on both sides engaged in trash talk throughout the game, creating a high-intensity matchup.
The game itself lived up to the emotion, as the teams set a Camellia Bowl record for first-half points before the defenses took over and created what would have been a completely scoreless second half, if not for late-game heroics by Arkansas State quarterback Jaylen Raynor to cut the final deficit to two points.
Saturday was the first meeting between the two schools since the 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, which NIU won 38-20 in what was their most recent bowl victory.
Here are some more takeaways from the 2023 Camellia Bowl:
Northern Illinois captures early momentum with aggressive decisions
The Huskies became the first team in Camellia Bowl history to score on their first drive, marching down the field with ease. Quarterback Rocky Lombardi connected with receiver Grayson Barnes three times for 65 yards and a touchdown on the drive. A failed two-point conversion made it 6-0 Huskies.
The decision to go for two after their first touchdown was a sample of the aggressiveness the Huskies played with in the first half. After their second touchdown drive made it 13-7, NIU attempted an onside kick that they would have recovered had one of their players not illegally touched the ball before it traveled 10 yards.
The Huskies would soon reap the rewards of aggressive and creative special teams play, though. After stopping Arkansas State on fourth-and-1 in the red zone, NIU drove into field goal range and lined up to kick a 49-yard…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/2023-camellia-bowl-northern-illinois-210336467.html
Author : The Montgomery Advertiser
Publish date : 2023-12-23 21:03:36
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